Bolivia: Transport firms in Chuquisaca in Bolivia are reported to be ‘in state of emergency’ after they decided to stop carrying cement on behalf of local producer Fancesa. The cement producer recently decided to lower the fare it pays for trips from its plant to Santa Cruz to US$1.88/bag (50kg) from US$2.18/bag, a fall of 13.7%.
Largest Nepalese plant secures US$140m commercial loan
Nepal: A consortium of Nepal’s five commercial banks has approved credit worth US$140.5m to Hongshi Shivam Cement Private Limited, a Nepal-China joint venture company, in one of the largest ever finance pledges by Nepali commercial banks to any industry or infrastructure project. Company officials said that they would use the loan pledged by the commercial banks to start commercial production of cement at Hongshi Shivam’s 6000t/day plant.
The consortium led by Nepal’s NMB Bank, co-led by Nepal Investment Bank and participated in by Prabhu Bank, Everest Bank and Nepal SBI Bank, pledged the loan to the cement company, which has been conducting trial production of cement since May 2018.
The joint venture said that the loan was sought from Nepali banks to conclude financial closure of the cement plant. It has already received approval to inject Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth US$86m from Investment Board of Nepal and the central bank. The Chinese joint-venture partner has pledged to inject total FDI of US$360m, making it the largest FDI ever in the country’s cement industry.
Argos sees 23% profit growth in Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic: Colombia’s Cementos Argos has announced that it recorded positive results in the Dominican Republic during the first half of 2018. In this period, the company saw overall revenues experience a year-on-year increase of 7%, while net profits expanded by 23%. These positive results helped the company to report a good performance in its Caribbean-Central American regional operations, which recorded earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$99m and revenues of US$299m in the period under review, marking increases of 3.9% and 2.6%, respectively.
GCCA expands to 16 members
UK: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) reports that it continues to grow, with the addition of several new member companies from Europe, South America and Asia. In August 2018 there were six new members: Buzzi Unicem, Cementos Argos, Cementos Pacasmayo, Çimsa Çimento, SCG Cement and Titan Cement. The GCCA also welcomed the US Portland Cement Association (PCA) as an Affiliate.
Albert Manifold, GCCA President (and CEO of CRH) said, “We are delighted to welcome further cement and concrete companies and like-minded organisations to the GCCA. The GCCA was set up to provide the authoratitive global voice for this essential sector. With every new member, the voice becomes even stronger.”
The new members and affiliates join 10 existing member companies: Cemex, CNBM, CRH, Dangote Cement, Eurocement, HeidelbergCement, LafargeHolcim, Taiheiyo Cement, UltraTech Cement and Votorantim. Further applications for member and affiliate status have been received and are being processed.
